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Friday, July 8, 2011

Should have read, 'Autistic Kids...Chew?'

Remember this shirt? I'm sure I've shared it before. We made this for my little man for the Autism Speaks walk, and it has since been his favorite (because it says his name on the back, he loves that!) Anyway, this is what it looked like then...

And this is what it looks like now...

Now, you probably can't tell, but there are also a few holes in it as well.

This isn't the first shirt this has happened to and I'm certain it won't be the last...why? Because my Shaun has once again turned into a champion chewer...if he can get his mouth on it, he's chewing it. There are many days where his shirt is soaking wet from chewing it. We've always had issues with him mouthing and chewing on things (for sensory input). In our old apartment, he'd chewed the windowsill to the point that the layers of paint peeled away (I'm not sure how to explain that properly, and I did not take any pictures to better show what I mean, so I hope this makes sense.) He'd also been known to chew on his own fingers. He's been a chewer from a very young age...it started at 3 months, and at the time we thought he was teething incredibly early, even though he did not have the excessive drool, etc that goes with teething and did not get his first tooth until much later. Now, I wonder if perhaps it was a sensory thing at that point as well. But anyway, for awhile, it seemed like this had stopped, or at least gone down drastically. But in the last month or so he's started back up worse than ever. Shirts, furniture, windowsills...he's after them. He went at a doorknob but was unsuccessful. (As I'm writing this, he's got a stuffed Bolt dog that now looks like he's been drowned!) He has a chewy tube for this very purpose, but would prefer to use everything else.

I hope this is something he will outgrow in time, but in the meantime, I'll just be thankful he has a ridiculously large wardrobe to chew his way through;)